


mistletoe

by mochis



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: (mariah carey voice) i know it's over the top but that's just how festive i am, M/M, Mistletoe, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-13 22:32:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16901067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochis/pseuds/mochis
Summary: First, Alfred saw one outside his apartment door. Then, one hanging just above the elevators. And another one at the bottom of one of the staircases, which coincidentally, would lead you right up to his floor. There was even one outside the maintenance room. All of which wouldn't have been so bad, had he not been crushing on his next door neighbor.





	mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> written for an aph calendar event on tumblr with the prompt "mistletoe"!

The first thing Alfred noticed as he stepped outside of his cozy apartment and into the brisk New York air was the green leafed mistletoe hanging just outside of his door. 

It wasn’t directly in front of his apartment - rather, it was situated just in between his and his neighbor’s door. His neighbor, the man with the kind eyes and curly-tailed dog, the man who often brings him home made sweets to share over tea, the man with the soft laugh and rosy cheeks that Alfred certainly did not spend hours daydreaming about. 

His landlord, a frenchman with a knack for decorating their apartment complexes with his grouchy husband, must have been feeling festive. That’s all. 

Alfred didn’t stick around that morning to greet Kiku and his dog, Pochi, as he usually did. He didn’t want to get caught in an awkward position with the man he’s been maybe-crushing on for the past three months. “Crushing” might be too heavy of a word. “Very intense appreciation” works much better.

“You fucking liar, just admit you have a thing for him and move on,” Lovino, his coworker who he had been sharing a cubicle with for the past three years, said. He hardly looked up from his phone during the entire conversation, cheek in his palm as he listened to Alfred explain -  red-faced and distractedly - the mistletoe he found that morning. 

“I don’t - have a thing for my neighbor, dude,” Alfred muttered, turning away from Lovino to type absentmindedly at his desktop. “That’s just weird. Right? I hardly know the guy.”

“You know every single detail about him. Even  _ I  _ could tell you how his eyes are the color of ‘the best hot cocoa in the world, the type that isn’t too sweet but not too bitter’, because you tell me every goddamn morning!”

“I just - pay attention to detail! I could say you have honey colored eyes, couldn’t I? Because you do!”

“Okay, but you don’t just remember shit like that, Alfred, you obviously think about him for God knows how long. You sound just like my brother when he first starting dating his husband, swooning and sighing about him all the damn time.”

Alfred didn’t respond, choosing to pull up some loans he needed to approve rather than spend any more time dwelling on this subject. He did not sigh, and he certainly did not  _ swoon.  _ Alfred was too old to be acting like he had a middle school crush.

He spent the rest of the day flustered and eager to just go home and shut himself into his apartment bedroom for the evening. Or maybe grab some greasy but cheap take-out from that Chinese place a few blocks from his apartment complex. He’s been distracting himself with food as of late to keep from thinking about why his day seemed brighter when Kiku was in it.

Now with two boxes of lo mein and sweet and sour chicken in hand, Alfred felt a little better. He’d even forgotten about the mistletoe hanging just outside his and Kiku’s apartment doors. 

Until he saw one hanging just above the elevators. And another one at the bottom of one of the staircases, which coincidentally, would lead you right up to his floor. There was even one outside the maintenance room (to which Alfred was caught in an embarrassing situation with one of the janitors on his way to his home). 

After dinner, Alfred figured he’d go ahead and ruin his health more by finishing the rest of that cookie dough ice cream in the fridge. He really didn’t want to deal with today any longer.

“Stupid Francis,” he muttered as he set his food down to fish for his keys in his messenger bag. “So this is where my rent money is going to - a bunch of stupid mistletoe.” 

“Alfred?” Alfred started at the sound of Kiku’s voice - his soft, honey filled voice, Jesus  _ Christ _ \- and nearly dropped his keys as he turned to look at him. He must have been too lost in his thoughts to even notice Kiku’s door opening, or even hear the tinkling sound of Pochi’s name tag against his leash. 

“Oh, hey, Kiku,” Alfred tried not to look at the mistletoe above them, focusing on Kiku’s eyes. Which wasn’t really a good idea, when he actually looked into them. The sun was setting just behind them, and the rays were catching his eyelashes and highlighting the layers of warmth in his eyes. “How-How was your day? I’m sorry I didn’t see you this morning, I had a lot of work at the office…”

“No, it’s alright. I decided to sleep in for once, anyways,” he said, locking his apartment door. It had only been a few moments, but his cheeks and nose were already slightly rosy from the cold. He still hadn’t looked up at the ceiling. “Besides, it was too cold to go for a walk so early in the morning. Pochi whined the whole day.”

Pochi wagged his tail as if he knew they were talking about him, beaming up at Kiku. Alfred laughed, “It’s just as cold now. Are you gonna be okay?” 

“Oh, well,” Kiku adjusted the scarf around his neck, knotting it neatly at the front, “would you like to come with us? Pochi likes your company. And so do I, honestly.” 

Alfred’s heart soared. Kiku enjoyed his company? Even his  _ dog  _ liked his company? This had to mean something. Or maybe it didn’t - maybe Kiku meant it in an entirely different way. A friendly, definitely-not-romantically-into-you kind of way. Then again, Kiku wasn’t one to just  _ say  _ things like that. At least, Alfred hoped he wasn’t. 

Too caught up in his head, Alfred didn’t realize he was keeping Kiku waiting for an answer. He managed to sputter out, completely red-faced, “I - Well, I would love to, but I - brought take-out and…” 

Kiku looked behind him and at the bag of chinese boxes next to him. Pochi’s nose followed the scent of food.  “I’’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you from you dinner.” He said. 

“No! No, it’s totally cool, dude,” Alfred said, a little too loudly despite himself. He didn’t notice Pochi walking towards the take-out. “I really appreciate the offer. I need the exercise, too.”

Kiku’s eyes flickered towards Alfred’s body before quickly looking away. He pulled the scarf a bit more snug around his neck. “You don’t. In-In fact, I should be saying that.”

Kiku felt Pochi’s leash tug in the direction of the take-out, his nose already sniffing around the bag for a snack. He clicked his tongue, beginning to chastise him before he darted away. Alfred hardly had time to look down before the dog had run in the opposite direction and right around his ankles, yanking Kiku forward and right into Alfred’s chest. Pochi’s leash was completely wrapped around the two - and Alfred’s luck could not have gotten any worse. 

“I-I am -  _ so  _ sorry,” Kiku said, hands against Alfred’s chest to steady himself. He refused to look up, and honestly, Alfred was quite thankful for it. He wasn’t sure if his face could be anymore flushed than what it already was in that moment. He glared down at Pochi, who had sat down just foot away from the two, his curly tail wagging.

“It’s no-no big deal.”  _ Just don’t look up.  Don’t look up. Don’t look up.  _ “Uh - are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but…” his sentence trailed off, and realizing where his hands were, he moved them quickly to clasp together against his own chest instead. Kiku chanced a glance - one damn glance - up towards the blonde and was relieved to see that he wasn’t angry. Then he saw something else, something like a bundle of leaves just behind Alfred’s head - 

“...Oh.” 

“What?” 

“I. Um.”

Alfred followed Kiku’s gaze towards the ceiling and mentally kicked himself. The stupid mistletoe. He was so sure Kiku was too short to even notice it. 

Despite the situation, despite  _ everything  _ going on with his too-fast heart and flushed face, he managed a laugh. “I guess Francis must have put them up on the building. For the-the season, you know?”

Kiku didn’t quite match his laughter, but he  _ did  _ smile. Just a bit. Alfred guessed it was better than nothing. “I - I suppose.” 

He eventually managed to get Pochi to walk back around their ankles, untangling their legs and finally giving Alfred some room to breathe and calm down. He might have just been as physically close to Kiku as he might ever get, but he would think about the way Kiku’s hands felt against him later. He could think about the cute way Kiku’s blush reached his ears  _ after  _ he apologized for leaving his food lying around.

Kiku knelt down in front of Pochi and reprimanded him for trying to sneak another snack after just being fed. Though, “reprimand” was a harsh word for it - Kiku told him to stop snooping around all while scratching behind his ears and ruffling his fur, so it was more of a coo. 

Alfred was about ready to yank that mistletoe down from the ceiling when Kiku stood back up, adjusting his scarf again. Then, he turned towards Alfred, a semi-expectant look on his face. 

“Well?” 

Alfred blinked. “Um…’well’ what?”

“Aren’t you going to -” Kiku closed his mouth, as if embarrassed to say the word. Instead, he pointed at the mistletoe above them. “Isn’t this a tradition?”

“I mean, yeah, it is, but -”

“But?”

Alfred stopped, dumbfounded. Was he hearing Kiku right?

“Alfred,” Kiku said, stepping right in front of him and looking up at him with those eyes he could go on and on about, “kiss me.”

Well. Since Kiku was asking so nicely. 

He felt Kiku smile against his lips, and Alfred couldn’t help the giddy laugh that escaped him. 

Alfred invited him and Pochi into his apartment to share his take-out, considering it was enough to feed more than two people. 

“Is this from Liu’s a few blocks away from here?” Kiku asked between bites of noodles. Alfred never noticed how natural he looked sitting in his kitchen, cheap chopsticks stained with grease in hand and a chinese take-out box in the other. 

He took a bite out of his eggroll. “Yup.”

He hummed, bumping shoulders with him. “You have good taste.”


End file.
